Ed.D. Program (PK-12) Frequently Asked Questions

Application Questions

Prospective students complete a California State University application and submit
a department/program application to the Educational Leadership Department. Full information
and links to the university and program applications can be found at the College of Education Admissions website.

Letters of recommendation should come from professionals who are fully informed about
your work, including areas where you have provided leadership. Recommendations can
be either professional (e.g., current employer) or academic (e.g., professor from
previous degree).

GRE test scores are a necessary component of the California State University graduate
application. If you have already taken the GRE, you can submit a score report in
lieu of sitting for the examination a second time.

The university-established minimum GPA is 2.85 for domestic applicants and 3.00 for
international applicants. If you don't meet the GPA criteria, you may still be accepted
but be on probational acceptance.

We have not established a minimum GRE score and do not keep a record of the average
scores of admitted students. The faculty reviews each application package as a whole,
rather than just the numbers.

Financial Matters Questions

Cost is dependent on how many semesters you are enrolled. The number of semesters
is dependent on both coursework and dissertation progress. Current Ed.D. tuition
is available at the SDSU Tuition and Other Fees page in the “Ed Doctoral” column:

Program Questions

Classes for the traditional San Diego cohort typically meet at Health Sciences Middle
and High College in central San Diego. In addition, most courses have an online component
where Zoom is used for online meetings.

In our traditional three-year program, classes typically meet one night a week, from
about 5 PM until 9 PM. In addition, there are occasional Saturday seminars. In the
second year, you will typically follow the same schedule, although the number of classes
is usually slightly reduced, due to independent dissertation work. In the third year,
the number of classes remains about the same as year two.

The Ed.D. is a cohorted program. We accept between 12-30 students into the traditional
cohort each year. In some years, multiple cohorts are established. Classes may consist
of a single cohort, or a combination of cohorts that represent multiple years. Class
size is dependent on the number of students recruited into a cohort and whether or
not a particular course involves combined cohorts.

There will be a predetermined course sequence for each cohort. Classes and schedules
for each semester are established well in advance. Space in class is reserved for
each student during registration; students are fully responsible for registering for
all required classes. Necessary codes for enrolling in classes are typically sent
out via email prior to registration times.

As a past NISL participant, it is possible to complete the program in as little as
two years (six or seven semesters). This type of accelerated timeline is largely predicated
on meeting the dissertation work deadlines, which means making rapid, high quality
progress in each phase of the dissertation. Some students (NISL and non-NISL) require
additional semesters as a result of their own amount of progress on the dissertation.
We are very supportive at each stage of writing—but, ultimately, progress is fully
dependent on the student. This is understandable, since each student has different
life experiences and responsibilities which impact his or her work.

Typically, we can only run an independent, geographic-specific cohort with 15 or more
students. We established a Pomona cohort in 2019, but that is a one-time cohort and
it will not reoccur unless there are the minimum required number of students. We
are exploring the possibility of a cohort in Orange County or the Inland Empire for
the 2020 admission cycle. We are happy to work with potential students to recruit
others in your area, if you think there would be the required number.